by Troy Everett Peterson (Author)
"A well-told, fast-paced novel packed with excitement and tension..."-Madge Harrah, Spur Award novelist (Western Writers of America) When Cole Harden agrees to deliver dispatches that implicate a cattle baron of murder, he sets in motion a series of events that threaten his life and everyone around him. Still haunted by the brutal murders of his family, Cole starts a new life in the San Luis Valley as foreman for the Golden Willow Ranch. Cole's courtship with the rancher's daughter, Abigale, is interrupted when her ailing father calls on him to drive a thousand head of longhorns high into the San Juan Mountains for the summer while Abigale stays behind to tend to her father's ranch. When Cole and the cattle reach the summer range and the remote gold camp of Platoro, they encounter a dangerous grizzly, a dead miner, and an ominous gang of gold-greedy outlaws. Cole is determined to protect the brand and bring the men and cattle home safe at any cost.